


The Harsh Dark

by crystalkei



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-13
Updated: 2014-11-13
Packaged: 2018-02-25 05:10:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2609720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystalkei/pseuds/crystalkei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This started as about 900 words on tumblr but it got much bigger. Canon divergent from 2x03. I read a spoiler that Clarke would be mad and a little scared at everything Finn had done in his search for her so that's where this came from. </p><p> </p><p>---</p><p>“I wish I could tell you cuddling him to sleep like that wasn’t necessary but,” she could see him bite the inside of his cheek, “I’m feeling safer, he’s been fitful at best and I haven’t slept in three days.” </p><p>It was the second time that Bellamy had admitted to being scared of Finn. He was being so honest with her, like he hadn’t even realized he’d woven those statements into their conversation. Clarke didn’t have time to think about how that was a big deal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Harsh Dark

  
"I did it to get to you! I was trying to get to you!"   
  
Finn’s outburst caused the others around to flinch. Clarke shrunk a little where she stood, surprised by the force of him. She noticed Bellamy stand up from his spot a few feet away, near the water’s edge. She thought it was strange the way he’d been sticking pretty close to her. They often gravitated towards one another and she figured he had just missed her presence, but now she knew why he’d stayed so close since they’d found her.   
  
  
"Calm down," Clarke said in what she hoped was a soothing tone. "I understand, I," she stumbled over the words. "I can see you had…there was a lot going on, it was…" she couldn’t find the right thing to say, the thing to diffuse the situation and she was getting a little sick thinking she might have to tell him she approved of his abhorrent actions that he was putting on her.   
  
"Clarke," Bellamy said from his spot by the water. Finn turned quickly to glare at him, but Bellamy’s face was covered in blood. Clarke realized he looked much worse than he had a few minutes ago. She rushed to him and was relieved to see that Finn stomped off, away from the group, when she left him.   
  
"Oh god, what did you do to your face?" she said concerned as her fingers delicately ran over his cheek. He wasn’t looking at her though; he was looking over her shoulder and watching Finn walk away.   
  
"It’s fine really, I just pinched." He made the motion above the wound that had reopened.  
  
"Why’d you do that? Your face is going to scar!" she had the look of a mother irritated with a child. "You haven’t kept your face clean at all, it’s a wonder it’s not infected." She started towards the stream dragging his arm. "Splash some water on it, it’s the best we’ve got so we’ll have to make do."   
  
Again though, he wasn’t looking at her, he was looking at Finn off in the distance, but he knelt down by the water. He lifted the liquid without looking and tried to splash some on his face. “Hey!” he yelped as she ripped a piece of cloth from the bottom of his shirt.   
  
"If you insist on not looking, you’re going to have to let me borrow some of your shirt." She rolled her eyes at him and he mumbled an apology but still, his eyes were on Finn, until he walked into the trees and out of sight.   
  
"Murphy," he whispered and Murphy made a face but casually moved closer to the trees. What must have happened that Murphy was a more reliable help than Finn? “That asshole’s expendable but he’s getting mouthy since I keep tasking him with babysitting Captain Killer over there.”  
  
"What the hell happened to you guys?" Clarke asked as she worked on cleaning Bellamy’s face. He finally looked at her, shaking his head.   
  
"He told you," Bellamy said, he seemed to search her face but she tried to keep it neutral. "Welcome to fucking weird land where Finn shoots people at point blank and shakes like he hasn’t eaten in a week. He’s gone off the fucking rails and it’s terrifying."   
  
"That’s why you pinched your face?" Clarke suggested. "You could have just called me over."   
  
"Not likely. I’ve been with him for a few days like this." He winced as she got more water on the cloth. "A distraction was the safest way." Clarke stopped and wiped her forehead. She hadn’t noticed that even in the chill, the adrenaline caused her to sweat. Bellamy looked at her with, what was that? Pity, concern? She wasn’t sure.   
  
"He said he did it for me," she said with a heavy sigh. "I feel sick."   
  
"Why do you think I’ve been your shadow since we found you?"   
  
"You’ve been waiting for him to lash out," Clarke allowed her own fear to take over any anger at Finn’s choices. Bellamy swallowed and gave her the smallest of nods.   
  
"He thinks he did it for you, he’s likely to snap if you don’t act the way he wants. I was just waiting for it, I think we missed it today, but-" Bellamy’s eyes darted to the tree line and Clarke turned around too.   
  
"I know you don’t have anything to stitch it up," he said louder, so everyone could hear. "It’s fine, your mom has been salvaging stuff from the Ark, it’s how she helped Raven."   
  
Clarke nodded along, taking a deep breath and regaining her composure. “It will just have to wait, but at least it’s not infected. That’s good news.” 

"Let’s get moving," Finn snapped. 

"Yeah, man, give me a minute," Bellamy said, standing up and rolling his shoulders, it was like he was making himself taller. To Clarke it looked like some macho show of alpha male bullshit but she wasn’t exactly upset by it. "Clarke has to pee, anyways." She nodded knowing that Bellamy was giving her a few minutes to collect herself better.  
  
Bellamy took the cloth from her hands and stepped in front of her, he waited a beat for Finn to look away, and pulled the pistol out of the back of his pants, carefully holding it out to her behind his back. She took it and moved it to her back, all before Finn turned to look at her, irritation clear on his face.   
  
"Monroe, why don’t come with me," Clarke suggested evenly. Trying to recall that anger that Finn was using her being missing to give reason for the things he’d done.  
  
"Girls, always going together," Bellamy joked, clearly trying to deter Finn.   
  
Clarke walked away trying to smile. She was afraid of Finn, but she also felt violated thinking of things he’d done in her name. Deep breaths, though. They were going to be fine. New insanity? Totally normal for their lives. She had it under control, and if she didn’t, Bellamy did. One last deep breath like a prayer of gratitude that at least she wasn’t alone with Finn.  
  
\---  
  
  
The fire crackled as she ran her hands through Finn’s hair. Her mother used to help her get to sleep this way and Clarke remembered the first night on earth, she was so scared that she’d done it to herself, trying to imagine that she was safe. After today she wanted her mother to be with her, to do this for her. Out of the pan and into the fire seemed typical for her luck but it was starting to get the best of her.  
  
It felt wrong to have this kind of contact with him, she was so angry with him. But the talk she and Bellamy had earlier in the day had her hyper focused on putting Finn at ease. Clarke was desperate to get him out of this funk. Didn’t mean she wasn’t feeling manipulative, like she was lying to him.  
  
A whisper pulled her out of herself and she left Finn sleeping, the deep breathing giving her some comfort that he wasn’t likely to wake. Clarke walked further from the fire where Bellamy was sitting against a tree. He looked at her with that same look from earlier. It must have been concern. His eyes were trained on her this time, instead of constantly on Finn, as they’d been all day.  
  
“I think he’s out for a while,” Clarke whispered as she lowered herself next to him against the tree, taking a moment to get comfortable.  
  
“I wish I could tell you cuddling him to sleep like that wasn’t necessary but,” she could see him bite the inside of his cheek, “I’m feeling safer, he’s been fitful at best and I haven’t slept in three days.”  
  
It was the second time that Bellamy had admitted to being scared of Finn. He was being so honest with her, like he hadn’t even realized he’d woven those statements into their conversation. Clarke didn’t have time to think about how that was a big deal.  
  
“Shocking,” she teased, better to deflect than reflect.  
  
“How could you tell? My face it basically one giant bruise, what girl’s gonna want a piece of this now?” he smiled and Clarke let herself laugh quietly.  
  
“Mount Weather is a shitty house of horrors but this is a nightmare,” she said coming back to the situation.  
  
“Your arm looks like Mount Weather was quite the party,” he said pointing his chin towards the stitches in her arm. “Want to share with the class?”  
  
Clarke turned her forearm over and carefully used a finger to trace the line on her arm. “I acted a little like you, while I was there, you’re a bad influence,” she replied and he smirked. “I broke out of a holding cell, there was a window and I cut my arm, then I used a piece of glass to threaten a girl who was cleaning. I made her take me to the people in the charge with that piece of glass at her throat.” She gulped, she didn’t like what she’d done to Maya, that girl probably had no idea of the awful things the president of those people was doing.  
  
For his part, Bellamy at least didn’t smile proudly or anything. His face was blank. “Well, you rubbed off on me, too,” he said. “Did Finn tell you that he shot that grounder while I was holding Murphy back from killing the guy? We made some bad choices but when I’m the one with the level head…” he trailed off and looked at her expectantly. She just nodded, hoping he’d go on.  
  
“Now we know that poor guy didn’t know anything.” The remorse and shame were plain on his face.  
  
“That’s the problem with torture,” she said. “If you hurt someone enough, they’ll tell you whatever you want to hear.”  
  
“I know,” he said looking down at his hands. “It was weird though, I’m telling him to calm down, I’m telling him this isn’t the way to do things, but he was deranged. Obsessed with your father’s watch.” Clarke covered the watch on her wrist as if to protect it and the memory of her father from all of this violence.  
  
“I figured he thought he was doing it all for you, Raven’s laid up, partly paralyzed, he’s spinning out of control, but even the fact that I was saying things I thought you’d say, I believe them and I know they’re right, but I was purposely trying to sound like you, I wanted to snap him out of it. I was two sentences away from invoking your name and saying you’d hate what he was trying to do, but I didn’t stop it in time.”  
  
“Dammit, Bellamy,” she said with mild irritation, as she put her hand on his knee. “You’ve got a shit ton of things to feel guilty about but this one isn’t on you. If anything it’s on me.”  
  
“Hell no, it’s not on you,” he said a little louder, but caught himself. “Finn’s trying to use his man pain bullshit and pawn it off on you but you didn’t ask for it.”  
  
“Man pain bullshit?” she questioned with a raised eyebrow.  
  
“I read it in a book once,” he replied with a smile. “Okay that book was full of essays picking apart comic book superheroes of the 20th century but it still counts.”  She leaned into his shoulder to stifle a laugh. Clarke felt Bellamy turn towards her, she felt his breath on her forehead and it was comforting, maybe a little exciting.  
  
She pulled away quickly and cleared her throat uncomfortably. Clarke didn’t need any excess feelings right now. File it away with the small touches and the kind words and the occasional flip her stomach did when he asked if she was okay. Sometimes those feelings just popped up but she needed to file them away because romantic feelings were the last thing she wanted right now. Not with this shit storm going on. Love and other attachments had gotten them in this disaster.    
  
“So do you think Finn will go back to normal? Will he just snap out of this?” Bellamy looked towards Finn across the fire.  
  
“God, I hope so, but you and I both know that the choices we’ve made, they stick, they don’t just get forgotten.”  
  
Clarke knew exactly what he was talking about. She used to be naïve, she used to be innocent, but now she knew.  
  
“Hey, don’t sleep too close to your boyfriend over there,” Bellamy said quickly.  
  
“He’s not my boyfriend, don’t be an asshole about this right now,” she said making it known she wasn’t down for that kind of joking or jealousy or whatever he meant by it.  
  
“I’m being serious,” he said, eyes pleading. He hadn’t been messing around. “I’ve been making sure everyone else is at least 10 meters from him, and I always keep Monroe furthest away. I didn’t want him to get confused in the middle of the night and, I dunno, strangle anyone.”  
  
She bristled at the words. “I think it might be safer for everyone if I slept close to him.”  
  
“I know what you’re saying.” He softened. “But this isn’t like playing with his hair to get him to sleep. Keep yourself safe, at least a few meters away, don’t get cuddly.”   
  
“I don’t want to get ‘cuddly.’” Clarke said shortly before looking up at the moon. An idea struck her. “You know, you should sleep. I’ll take this watch.” Bellamy seemed to question her. “I mean it, Mount Weather might be a huge government conspiracy but they have real beds so I’m pretty well rested.” He nodded.  
  
“Here, take this.” He handed her the rifle that was next to him. “There’s some nasty ass rations from the ark in my bag if you get hungry.”  
  
“Thanks,” she said as she watched him do a mental headcount by glancing around to check on everyone before he kicked his legs out to the side and put his head in the crook of his arm.  
  
“Don’t try to do that hair thing to me, princess,” he said with a chuckle. “I have a very specific regime to keep this hair properly tussled.”  
  
Clarke smiled before smacking his head. “Go to sleep, jerk.”  
  
“I’m glad you’re back,” she thought she heard him whisper but he was snoring softly before she could respond.

 

 

\--

 

 

They’d been walking for hours and Clarke hoped they were getting close to Camp Jaha. She didn’t know what to expect there, but if it involved taking a deep breath and a break from movement for a little, she’d be content.  
  
She thought when she’d been reunited with the small group, “the B team” Bellamy kept calling them under his breath, they’d start to work on a plan right then and there to go back to Mount Weather but Finn had taken the lead and insisted on going back to the camp. In the back of her mind she wondered if Kane or her mother would let them leave again to go back and drag the others out of Mount Weather. But they couldn’t go back like this and Bellamy knew that, Clarke knew it too, but it still felt weird deferring to the adults.  
  
Finn was in the front, the rifle on his back made her cringe. Not because he’d never wanted much to do with guns, but because he seemed so dangerous right now. The fear didn’t keep the anger at bay though. The more they walked, the more she had to act like she wasn’t furious at what he’d done.  
  
Bellamy and the others were behind her, she wasn’t sure if he was closest to her because he wanted to play back up or if he was using his body to essentially shield the other kids. Again she thought, what a crazy situation that Murphy wasn’t the one anyone felt they needed to watch out for.  
  
Her fists clenched, “I did it because I needed to find you,” that’s what Finn had told her yesterday and she was still reeling from it. What a pointless gesture, killing an innocent man. It bothered her too that he hadn’t seemed affected at all knowing that the grounder had been blameless. He brushed it off as collateral damage. Clarke felt her fingernails dig into her palms too hard but didn’t care.  
  
“Hey,” Bellamy was right behind her now, close enough that he’d reached out for her right hand, just touching it lightly, she reflexively opened both her hands. He just nodded and fell back into step behind her again.

 

She looked back at him to say, well anything really, but she turned just in time to watch Monroe trip, she went down with a twist, dammit, her ankle, the girl cried out and Clarke was at her side faster than Bellamy who was three steps closer to Monroe. Finn turned fast too, but he held the gun up and was searching the trees. He might have yelled something at Bellamy about a trap from the grounders but Bellamy just hollered for him to “shut up, and at least point that gun at the trees not at us back here.”  
  
Clarke crouched by Monroe who was trying to get her shoe off, “Don’t do that!” Clarke said quickly. The girl looked scared, poor thing had been tense for days probably. Clarke smiled kindly. “If you take your boot off it can make any swelling worse. You want to keep it on to control that.”  
  
Monroe was holding back tears. It was probably pretty bad if the redhead was crying. That is, if that was the reason for the tears. Bellamy put his arm under the younger girl’s arm and around to lift her back to her feet. “Can you walk?” he asked and Clarke stood up to gauge the strength of the ankle. Monroe’s tears fell and her face crumpled but she nodded in response to Bellamy’s query. Clarke shook her head. He bent to pick her up, but again, Clarke shook her head.  
  
“Finn, we can’t keep walking. We need to split up, some of us need to make it to camp and then send people back for Monroe.” She looked terrified so Clarke quickly added. “I’ll stay with you, it’s okay. We won’t leave you here alone.”  
  
“No, if we’re going to split up, you come with me.” Finn was by her side now, his hand on the small of her back, it made her flinch.  
  
“Who do you plan on leaving with her?” she challenged him and noticed Bellamy wince, his arms still propping up, Monroe.  
  
“Bellamy can stay with her.” Bellamy eased Monroe down, Clarke helped, all while she was pretty sure Finn glared.  
  
“I can stay here, but you should take Murphy with you, have Kane put him back in lockup.” Behind them Clarke could see Murphy raise his hands in annoyance, but he didn’t dare comment.  
  
“You’re kidding right? Me? In lockup? When this walking anger management problem is right here?” Apparently he did dare comment. Finn rounded on him and Bellamy reached for Finn, but Clarke swatted him away instead grabbing Finn’s shoulder herself.  
  
“Finn, stop!” She wasn’t quick enough to stop the first punch but he wasn’t going to get a second. She moved from behind him to stand in between Murphy and Finn. “You know what, I’m not going with you.” Clarke watched Finn’s face to see if he was going to snap like Bellamy had been worried about. He narrowed his eyes, but there wasn’t an explosion like she’d been bracing herself for. She quickly glanced at Bellamy, he also seemed ready for anything. She saw his hand reach for his rifle. She shook her head just slightly to call him off.  
  
“Why?” Finn asked, it sounded a little sad, or pathetic maybe. She’d sort that out later.  
  
“It’s best if I stay with Monroe,” she started but then she herself snapped. “No, you know what, I’m gonna tell you the truth, I don’t want to go with you. I’m angry with you, I’m a little scared of you, Murphy actually isn’t wrong. You’re like a time bomb right now and I don’t want to force myself to be nice to you.” She put her hands on her hips and huffed. Bellamy had his hand on his gun, clearly afraid Clarke had just pushed the button on the bomb.

 

Finn took a step forward and tried to reach for her face but Clarke took a step back, almost falling into Murphy. “No, what the hell?” she yelled.  
  
  
“I love you, I did those things because I love you, why can’t you see that?” he pleaded but Clarke shook her head.  
  
“Why do you think that’s a way to show someone you love them? What kind of fucked up world are you living in?”  
  
“I’m living in this one, the one where we daily have someone trying to kill us or maim us or apparently suck the blood from our veins! They took you and they messed with your head and now you’re different!”  
  
“I’m different?” she spit out. “I’m different? Okay, sure, I’m different, but that’s what happens, people change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for worse. You’re not okay with the way I’ve changed and I’m certainly not going to be okay with what you’ve become.”  
  
“This is all his fault,” Finn turned quickly to Bellamy. “You trust this loser more than you trust me, who by the way, has also killed people.” Bellamy sucked air in through his nose and stared Finn down. He wouldn’t deny that he’d killed people and Clarke actually felt the weight of all the guilt Bellamy carried with him.  
  
“Bellamy feels remorse, Bellamy lives with guilt and shame and you don’t get to talk about that. He did what he thought he had to do, and when he found out it was wrong, it’s almost killed him, Finn. Leave him out of this because it isn’t a fair fight. There’s no comparing your situations. Do you even feel bad that you killed that grounder? That grounder who drew you a fake map, who had nothing to do with us being taken from the drop ship? Because I haven’t seen any of it.”  
  
“I don’t regret it, I got your father’s watch back, how was I supposed to know he didn’t have any information?” Finn stepped toward her again and this time Clarke noticed out of her periphery that Bellamy did raise his gun.  
  
“You weren’t supposed to know, you were just supposed to act like a human being with some compassion. And when someone tells you the real story, you’re supposed to feel bad about it. Don’t just validate your actions.”  
  
“Maybe they’ll banish you so the grounders can punish you, like they tortured me,” Murphy said but he shouldn’t have.  
  
Finn was on him in half a second, they were on the ground and Finn just kept punching. Clarke shouted and Bellamy tried to pull him off but Finn turned on Bellamy. Clarke was trying to pull Finn back but instead wedged herself in between Bellamy and Finn. Immediately Bellamy took a step back but Finn didn’t seem to notice in his fury, he took a swing that landed solidly on Clarke’s chin. She cried out, it shook Finn and he seemed to come back to reality. He looked sick and panicked. She could feel everyone around stop and stare, they were all shocked. Clarke thought she might have heard Murphy mutter, “Damn.” Bellamy tried to pull her behind him but she resisted. She took a moment to rub her chin, it would bruise but she’d had worse.  
  
“You and Bellamy and Sterling will go back to get help,” she commanded. “I will stay here with Murphy and Monroe. And please don’t come back with the help. Don’t you dare come near me.”  
  
Finn shrunk and nodded. He looked like a chastised child and she felt her anger being replaced with pity. Bellamy cleared his throat so she turned to him. “I’m gonna take Murphy with me,” he countered. “I can handle the two of them, it’s not that far. Sterling can stay here with you.”  
  
“Why does this feel like the riddle with the fox, the chicken, and the bag of feed?” He shrugged.

 

“Because that’s exactly what it is.” He lifted his hand out like he was going to touch her chin but backed off. “You alright?”  
  
“Well now my face will be a giant bruise, we’ll match.” She tried to smile and he looked away to hide his bigger grin.

  
“That’s pretty badass, princess.”  
  
Clarke turned around to survey the damage. Murphy was holding his ear, it was bleeding, actually most of Murphy was bleeding. Finn was further away from everyone, looking dejected and hopeless. Monroe was picking at some grass next to her and Sterling looked like he had to pee but didn’t want to miss anything else that might happen.  
  
“Alright,” she said as she turned back to Bellamy. “I’ll see you in a couple hours? I mean if Kane doesn’t try to put you in lockup again.”

 

“Guess we’ll find out. Sit tight, and I’ll try to hold off your mom.”  
  
“Could you? I don’t think I’m ready to face her just yet.” Clarke took a deep breath.  
  
“I know, I heard you last night,” Bellamy said. Clarke was confused. “Practicing what you might say to her, last night while you were on watch.” She covered her face, embarrassed.  
  
“That was out loud, huh?” He just smiled.  
  
“You’ll be fine. All your comebacks sounded parent perfect and ready.”  
  
“Go away,” she said, sitting down next to Monroe. “Be safe.” He laughed as he walked away.  
  
“Alright Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, let’s move.”

 

\--

 

 

 The sun was starting to set, it was beautiful and peaceful but Clarke was getting restless. She’d gotten bored of sitting and waiting about 37 seconds after Bellamy, Murphy, and Finn had left for Camp Jaha and by her estimate they’d been gone about two hours. She’d also heard Monroe complaining about being hungry so that was gonna be a problem. Did Kane not let them come back for them? Surely not.  
  
All that time with nothing much to do but let Monroe braid her hair and listen as she and Sterling went on about who would be better in a fight. (Monroe was really pushing the idea that sharks would beat a giant sea squid but Sterling thought a better foe would be a killer whale.)  
  
Clarke heard rustling in the leaves and looked around quickly, the others quieting and pulling out their guns, Clarke had left hers over by the tree and was calculating the best way to get to it when Bellamy slipped out from behind a bush. “Miss me?”

 

Clarke jumped and then punched his chest lightly. “You’re a jackass.” He raised his eyebrows.  
  
“Yep, you missed me.” Clarke rolled her eyes. “I couldn’t keep your mom from coming, but I did manage to get ahead of them so I could warn you. Bought you like five, six minutes to rework your speech.”  
  
“Thank you,” she said gratefully. Bellamy turned to Monroe.  
  
“Brought you a stretcher,” he said as he went to help her up. “You’re gonna ride into camp like Cleopatra.” The younger girl giggled and Clarke shook her head. That man was such a flirt. Clarke needed to ignore the flirting. She didn’t have time for it. Seemed like a reasonable plan for the moment. Just keep ignoring it because this whole situation wouldn’t have even happened if she had just ignored Finn flirting with her.  
  
“So Clarke,” Bellamy started as he handed off Monroe to Sterling. “Next time, pick a better boyfriend, okay?”  
  
“We’ve got to plan how to get everyone out of Mount Weather and you want to talk about my love life?” she asked, dammit, she said she was going to ignore the flirting.  
  
“Your love life was detrimental to my own health, so just, pick a better boyfriend next time.”  
  
“It was pretty bad, maybe I’ll swear off boys altogether, try girls out,” she teased. She could flirt, too. Sort of.

Anything he might have said was cut off by her mother’s voice.  
  
“Clarke!” She didn’t need any of her parental comebacks just yet because her mother ran into her with such force it almost knocked the two of them over. She actually felt Bellamy’s hand on her back steadying her. He turned back to the others quickly, though, letting them have their moment.  
  
\--  
  
  
  
Everyone was back. Things were leveling out. Routines were being set and the two communities, the kids and the adults, were integrating well. They’d set up another council and Bellamy and Clarke both had seats, that compromise had helped the two groups come together.  
  
Clarke walked into Bellamy’s tent, they’d started building onto the old Ark wreckage, it looked like a combination of logs and metal, and a few thatched roofs, but there wasn’t enough room and Bellamy liked to be away from the masses so his tent sat on the edge of the camp. She spent a lot of time there, but it hadn’t progressed. Clarke was still ignoring (or trying to ignore) the flirting and they instead fell into an easy friendship. They still did a lot of work together; they made a good team.  
  
As she came in Bellamy looked up, he was lying on his bed, he smiled at her and went back to whatever work he had next to him. She rushed to him and pinned him under her body, her arms on each side of him above his shoulders.  
  
“What the fuck?” he said looking up, her face inches from his face, her hair around them like a curtain.  
  
“I need you to make me laugh,” Clarke demanded.  
  
“Because?” He didn’t seem that fazed by her strange behavior, but he was curious. She didn’t blame him. She didn’t know what had taken over her.

“I had a bad day and when I have shitty days you always make me laugh,” she told him honestly. But now she was embarrassed, what was she thinking? Clarke started to get up. “Sorry, never mind.” But Bellamy put his arms around her waist, holding her in place.  
  
“I think there’s a pebble in my face.” She tilted her head, searching his face with her medically trained eyes.  
  
“What?” She laughed. “That’s ridiculous. Why would you say that?”

  
“Right here,” he pointed to the wound he’d pinched months ago to distract Finn. “Feel it, I’m pretty sure that you were right about not cleaning my face and I got a pebble stuck in there.” Clarke was still smiling at the absurdity but she moved her thumb to the light scar.  
  
“That’s scar tissue, dumbass.” She laughed again.  
  
“Are you sure? It could be a pebble. My face was pretty bad.” He was smiling and she shook her head. “What happened?”  
  
“It was just a bad day, but I’m feeling better now. That’s exactly what I needed.” She just looked at him for a minute, feeling such tenderness for him. “You’re exactly what I needed,” she said softly and a little unsure of his reaction.    
  
“Oh yeah?” he asked and she nodded. Bellamy moved a hand to her cheek and just held her before he looked a little uncomfortable. “Glad you’re feeling better, and all this is great, but you’re going to need to get off because I’m feeling a little too good about all of this,” he said. Clarke already knew what he was talking about but instead of getting up, she rolled her hips against his and watched him close his eyes and moan.  
  
“You said to pick a better boyfriend,” she said as she lowered her face closer to his. “I think this might be a good choice, what do you think?” His answer was to close the space between them and kiss her.  
  
“I think it’s a fine choice,” he spoke against her lips.


End file.
